Observations of the Appearance of the Cojjtct. 307 



New Agricultural and Commercial Magazine, conducted 

 by Mr. Clennellj one of" the Secretaries of the Society — a 

 practice which we hope to see continued, at least till the 

 Society may think it necessary to publish their papers in 

 regular volumes. 



LVIII. IntelUgence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



THE COMET. 



On the Comet. By Mr. Firminger, lute Assistant Astro- 

 nomer at the Royal Ol'servatory, Greenwich: in a Letter 

 to the Editor. 



Sir, XJ.AVING always considered the Philosophical Maga- 

 zine one of the first channels of periodical scientific infor- 

 mation, it has given me great pleasure in being able from 

 time to time to add to its valuable contents, either by regis- 

 tering in it such productions as were my own, or those of 

 my friends, (of whom 1 had permission,) as appeared to 

 nie worthy of public attention. 



In the month of February last, I noticed, when giving aa 

 account of the position of the newly discovered planets 

 Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta, the valuable observations 

 made on Ceres at its last opposition, (which happened about 

 that time,) by Stephen Groombridge, esq. of Blackheath. 

 The same gentleman has done me the honour of commu- 

 nicating to me his equally valuable observations on the 

 comet which now graces with splendour the concave vault 

 of the starry hemisphere that surrounds us, and which has 

 been for some time pa«t an object of general interest and 

 admiration. The observations with which I have been fa- 

 voured, were not reduced, owing no doubt to the multipli- 

 city of objects in which Mr. Groombridge is continually 

 engaged. I have therefore, in uniformity with the valuable 

 observations you lately published, added the latitude and 

 longitude of each observation, these being the parts useful 

 to astronomers, either for determining the elements of the 

 comet's orbit, or for comparing such elements, when ob- 

 tained, with its actual situation. The elements which have 

 been given by M. Burckhardt, and which are found to agree 

 with subsequent observations, enable us to represent the 

 position and motion of the comet as seen from the earth, in 

 a very clear and interesting point of view. I have lately 

 made for the use of my pupils * a model, in which the vari- 



* Mr. Firminger gives private lessons in Astronomy, Geography, Ma- 

 thematics, and the various branches of Natural Philosophy. 



U 2 able 



